TORONTO – Fired CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi’s admission that he engages in rough sex has Canadians hearing a term that many may be unfamiliar with – BDSM, or bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism. So just what does BDSM involve and what draws adherents to this kind of sex?

Members of the so-called BDSM community say there are a lot of misconceptions about what kinky sex entails and about the people who embrace the lifestyle.

“Kinky sex is defined not so much by what it is, but what it’s not,” says Bernie, a southwestern Ontario entrepreneur in his mid-50s who asked that his full name not be used.

What it’s not, he says, is garden-variety sexual foreplay and intercourse, which is known in the community as “vanilla” sex.

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